Brady Supports Government Regulators' First Amendment Rights

National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, No. 22-842, Supreme Court of the United States

Topic: Financial regulations, reputational risk, and the gun industry

Case Summary: In the wake of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, FL, in which 17 students and staff were shot and killed, the head of New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS), which regulates New York banks and insurance companies, called on banks and insurance companies to consider the reputational risk of doing business with gun rights organizations. DFS had previously investigated NRA-endorsed insurance programs, some of which, the companies providing them later admitted, violated New York State law.Some insurance companies and banks ceased doing business with the NRA. The NRA sued the head of DFS, Maria Vullo, arguing that, among other things, her guidance and a related press release violated its First Amendment rights. The case implicates significant issues about government regulators’ ability to speak out on matters of public concern.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York dismissed most of the claims against Vullo, but permitted the First Amendment claims to go forward. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed that decision, and the NRA asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, which it agreed to do. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the NRA on May 30, 2024.

Brady’s Amicus Brief: Brady’s brief explained that the guidance from DFS was not, contrary to the claims of the NRA, coercive. Instead, it stated the truism that businesses must consider and manage “reputational risk” as part of their conventional, ongoing operations. In addition, around the time that various New York banks and insurers severed ties with the NRA, a wave of mass shootings across the country, including the shooting in Parkland, FL, led to a nationwide, grassroots campaign calling on businesses to cease working with the NRA, resulting in legitimate decisions by dozens of businesses across the country to discontinue those commercial relations. This grassroots campaign explains the businesses’ decision to sever ties with the NRA just as readily as any guidance issued by DFS.  

In May 2024, in a 9-0 decision, the Court found in favor of the NRA.